New loading press
09-24-2015, 11:28 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 3,516
New loading press
Hi folks I haven't been on any hunting forums for a while due to lifes trials & tribulations.
After 23 years of loading on the same RCBS RockCrusher it is time for a new press. One that loads the large magnums eaiser, and I can give my old press to a beginner.
I am looking at the RCBS RockChucker Supreme Press, RCBS Summit Press, or Forster CO-AX S-Jaws Press. All three presses will handle all large magnums (except the .50 cal. BMG).
Which one of these presses load with more accuracy?
Is the RCBS RockChucker Press, or the Summit Press load more accuratlly?
Good luck!
After 23 years of loading on the same RCBS RockCrusher it is time for a new press. One that loads the large magnums eaiser, and I can give my old press to a beginner.
I am looking at the RCBS RockChucker Supreme Press, RCBS Summit Press, or Forster CO-AX S-Jaws Press. All three presses will handle all large magnums (except the .50 cal. BMG).
Which one of these presses load with more accuracy?
Is the RCBS RockChucker Press, or the Summit Press load more accuratlly?
Good luck!
09-26-2015, 07:21 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 3,813
I use the RCBS Supreme press and I am very happy with it. I load pistol as small as .32 auto and rifle as large as 30-06 and the press has worked great. There are two issues I have with it however:
1. The primer catcher is not flush against the ram. When de-priming, especially if you go slowly, the spent primers will often times not go into the primer catcher. The primer then lands on the bench or falls to the floor. I do not mind this too much since I go over my work area with a small shop vac when finished anyway. But it might be an issue for you.
2. The priming arm used with the Supreme press I am not too impressed with - putting primers in the cup one-at-a-time can really slow things down. I looked at the "auto-prime" attachment for the Supreme press but I did not like the idea of having a primer feed tube in my face while operating the press. So I picked up and now use the RCBS "Bench Primer." It looks like this:
Depending upon the person these might sound like two pretty big issues but they aren't for me and the way I work. As for build quality what more can I say? It is an RCBS Single Stage press...which is to say it is a solid piece of equipment that with reasonable care you will be able to pass down to your children.
I have no experience with the other presses you mentioned so I cannot tell you about them.
Do your part and the RCBS Supreme press will repeatedly load accurate rounds.
Good luck with your choice.
1. The primer catcher is not flush against the ram. When de-priming, especially if you go slowly, the spent primers will often times not go into the primer catcher. The primer then lands on the bench or falls to the floor. I do not mind this too much since I go over my work area with a small shop vac when finished anyway. But it might be an issue for you.
2. The priming arm used with the Supreme press I am not too impressed with - putting primers in the cup one-at-a-time can really slow things down. I looked at the "auto-prime" attachment for the Supreme press but I did not like the idea of having a primer feed tube in my face while operating the press. So I picked up and now use the RCBS "Bench Primer." It looks like this:
Depending upon the person these might sound like two pretty big issues but they aren't for me and the way I work. As for build quality what more can I say? It is an RCBS Single Stage press...which is to say it is a solid piece of equipment that with reasonable care you will be able to pass down to your children.
I have no experience with the other presses you mentioned so I cannot tell you about them.
Which one of these presses load with more accuracy?
Good luck with your choice.
09-27-2015, 07:51 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,904
The Forster Co-ax and Redding T-7 got my money for precision loaded ammunition, other than being slow paced, I'm a happy customer with both.
For what it's worth - "accuracy" driven by a press just doesn't seem to be as difficult as most would make you think. How well you match up your die adjustment to your actual chambers tends to be much more critical in my experience. I've loaded 1/4MOA or better ammo with a Forster Co-Ax just as I have with a Lee Anniversary single stage O-press using the same dies (wish I was still shooting that well, having my son added about 1/2MOA to all of my rifles!!). I'm not prone to suggest everyone needs to buy custom reamed dies, but if you measure your fired brass against sized brass and there are differences in dimension, you can't expect maximal precision, no matter what press you're using.
Similarly, you can weight sort brass, bullets, & primers, neck turn, use concentricity correctors, use a premium press and dies, and do everything else that reloaders kick around as improvements to precision, but at the end of the day, if those steps don't really help the ammunition mate up with the chamber better than it was BEFORE the step, you're not doing anything but wasting time. Almost everything we can do makes brass smaller (sizing, trimming, turning, crimping), but if you have a loose spec chamber, smaller isn't better.
I at least feel good enough mentally about the Redding and the Forster that I can justify in my head that they are worth owning.
For what it's worth - "accuracy" driven by a press just doesn't seem to be as difficult as most would make you think. How well you match up your die adjustment to your actual chambers tends to be much more critical in my experience. I've loaded 1/4MOA or better ammo with a Forster Co-Ax just as I have with a Lee Anniversary single stage O-press using the same dies (wish I was still shooting that well, having my son added about 1/2MOA to all of my rifles!!). I'm not prone to suggest everyone needs to buy custom reamed dies, but if you measure your fired brass against sized brass and there are differences in dimension, you can't expect maximal precision, no matter what press you're using.
Similarly, you can weight sort brass, bullets, & primers, neck turn, use concentricity correctors, use a premium press and dies, and do everything else that reloaders kick around as improvements to precision, but at the end of the day, if those steps don't really help the ammunition mate up with the chamber better than it was BEFORE the step, you're not doing anything but wasting time. Almost everything we can do makes brass smaller (sizing, trimming, turning, crimping), but if you have a loose spec chamber, smaller isn't better.
I at least feel good enough mentally about the Redding and the Forster that I can justify in my head that they are worth owning.
